The Swedish government today signed a contract worth 4.3 billion euros for the purchase of four French defence and intervention frigates, in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. The signing took place in Stockholm, on board the Amiral-Ronarc’h, the brand-new French frigate of the same class, between the Chairman and Chief Executive of the French group Naval Group, Pierre-Eric Pommellet, and the Director of the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, Mikael Granholm. The first vessel will be delivered in 2030.
The order forms part of Stockholm’s rearmament drive, which began following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022 and Sweden’s accession to NATO in 2024. It also comes in response to France’s order for two GlobalEye aerial surveillance aircraft from the Swedish firm Saab, worth over one billion euros, in December 2025. Sweden has also joined the advanced nuclear deterrent scheme that Emmanuel Macron proposed to eight European countries on 2 March, aimed at strengthening the continent’s defence in the face of an increasingly uncertain American ally.
The Élysée Palace and the Swedish Prime Minister’s office view this as a “new stage” in military cooperation between the two countries, intended to “strengthen both European defence and NATO”. Paris and Stockholm held their first meeting on 23 April dedicated to nuclear cooperation, a process which “is continuing and intensifying”, according to the French presidency. The French navy regularly takes part in deployments in the North Sea, where Russia maintains a significant presence, and France will contribute to NATO’s forward land forces in Finland, which are under Swedish command.
Measuring 122 metres in length and displacing 4,500 tonnes, the frigate is designed to neutralise surface, air, submarine, asymmetric and cyber threats, according to Naval Group. It carries Aster 30 anti-ballistic missiles, anti-submarine torpedoes, anti-ship missiles and long-range cruise missiles, and is capable of deploying special forces as well as aerial and surface drones. Four such vessels have already been sold to Greece, whilst Norway opted for British frigates in 2025.
Emmanuel Macron will continue his European tour in the Netherlands and then in the United Kingdom. AFP
Europe
🇮🇸 Iceland • In a referendum, Icelanders rejected a resumption of negotiations on accession to the European Union, with 52.8 per cent voting ‘no’ against 47.2 per cent voting ‘yes’, and a turnout of 82.5 per cent. Iceland, already a member of the European Economic Area and the Schengen Area, applies more than 75 per cent of European standards (though it does not participate in their drafting) and pays an annual contribution to the EU for access to the single market. The campaign focused mainly on interest rates, the cost of living and fishing rights, which are both an economic pillar and a defining feature of the country’s identity.
🇷🇺 Russia - 🇺🇦 Ukraine • The death toll from the Russian strike on an ammunition depot in the Kyiv region has risen to 38, making it the deadliest attack of the year in that area, with four people still missing, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian president put the number of Russian strikes over the past week at nearly 2,000 drones, more than 1,600 aerial bombs and 31 missiles. The Russian Ministry of Defence announced that it was preparing massive strikes against Ukrainian energy facilities, in response to attacks on its own infrastructure.
🇬🇷 Greece - 🇮🇱 Israel • Athens and Tel Aviv have signed a three-billion-euro contract for the construction of the “Achilles Shield”, a multi-layered air and missile defence system designed to protect Greek territory from drones, aircraft and missiles. Greece, which spends nearly 3.5 per cent of its GDP on defence due to its latent conflict with Turkey, is the first country in the European Union to adopt such a system.
🇪🇸 Spain - 🇮🇹 Italy • Pedro Sánchez has ruled out any involvement by Morocco in the Ceuta migration crisis and has accused Russia, Israel and a “far-right international” of spreading disinformation, citing research by the European Union’s diplomatic service. More than 70,000 migrants have entered Ceuta from Morocco since July, a situation which has claimed the lives of at least 100 people, and nearly 5,000 people remain there. Italy has extended its border controls on travellers arriving from Spain by 15 days, a measure to which Madrid is responding with equivalent controls.
🇨🇾 Cyprus - 🇹🇷 Turkey • Nearly 20 people were still missing today following the sinking of a ferry that left at least eight people dead off the coast of Kyrenia, in northern Cyprus. The catamaran was carrying 267 passengers to the Turkish port of Tasucu when its bow split in rough seas, according to several eyewitness accounts. The wreck lies at a depth of 500 metres and divers from Turkey are taking part in the search. The captain and crew have been taken into police custody.
🇳🇴 Norway • The funeral of King Harald V, who died on Friday aged 89, will take place on 9 September at Oslo Cathedral. The new monarch, Haakon VIII, will swear an oath of allegiance to the Constitution tomorrow, and thousands of people have gathered outside the palace to pay tribute to a much-loved king after a 35-year reign.
🇽🇰 Kosovo • The party of acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Vetevendosje, and the Democratic League of Kosovo have agreed to nominate Bekim Sejdiu, a professor of law and former ambassador to Turkey, for the presidency. Together with the minority parties, the two groups hold the 80 votes required for this largely ceremonial election, which could bring an end to nearly two years of political deadlock and unblock the reforms awaited by Brussels.
Asia-Pacific
🇨🇳 China - 🇳🇵 Nepal • The death toll from the floods that devastated the Himalayan border region last Wednesday has risen to more than 950 dead and nearly 4,500 missing, including 3,925 in Nepal and 546 on the Tibetan side. The Nepalese authorities are focusing their efforts on 933 workers believed to be trapped at 11 hydroelectric construction sites, particularly in tunnels which rescuers are attempting to open using explosives and excavators, without having been able to establish contact. Nearly 21,000 members of the security forces are taking part in the operations, assisted by experts from India, China and South Korea. Scientists attribute the disaster to a glacier collapse, with Chinese state television citing glacial instability linked to global warming.
🇰🇵 North Korea • Pyongyang has described US policy as consistently hostile and has pledged to strengthen its nuclear force, rejecting Washington’s repeated calls for denuclearisation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned criticism of its human rights record and the military exercises scheduled for 7–11 September with South Korea and Japan, whilst Donald Trump seeks a new summit with Kim Jong Un.
🇯🇵 Japan • The Ministry of Defence has requested a record budget of 8,900 billion yen – equivalent to 48 billion euros – for the financial year beginning in April 2027, with artificial intelligence, drones and long-range missiles as priorities. Tokyo aims to acquire an AI-based decision-support system, hypersonic missiles launched from underwater platforms and a unit dedicated to cognitive warfare.
Middle East
🇺🇸 United States - 🇮🇷 Iran • Hostilities have resumed after a month of calm. Yesterday, the US military bombed two Iranian launchers on the island of Larak, in the Strait of Hormuz, after observing preparations for the firing of rockets loaded with sea mines; the strike reportedly left two to three people dead, according to Iranian sources. Tehran retaliated with ballistic missiles against two US bases in Jordan, which claims to have shot down eight missiles, and claimed responsibility for an attack on the Al Minhad base in the United Arab Emirates, a claim denied by Abu Dhabi. Donald Trump promised to “strike hard” and released an AI-generated video showing the destruction of Kharg Island, which Tehran dismissed as laughable and for which there is no evidence. Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian reiterated his desire for a negotiated settlement, stating that the continuation of the war was “neither in our interest nor in that of the region”.
🇮🇱 Israel – 🇵🇸 Palestine • An Israeli airstrike near a bakery in Deir al-Balah, in the centre of the Gaza Strip, killed two Palestinians yesterday, including a three-year-old boy, according to local health authorities. The army claims to have targeted a member of Hamas. More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire came into force in October 2025, whilst the Israeli army reports that four soldiers have been killed. In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli organisation B’Tselem has recorded 235 Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces between the start of the war and June 2026 – more than seven per month – compared with one per month between 2005 and 2021.
Africa
🇳🇪 Niger • General Abdourahamane Tiani’s junta quelled a mutiny with the help of Russian paramilitaries from Africa Corps, following heavy fighting in several districts of Niamey and the recapture of Air Base 101 this weekend. A diplomatic source reports several deaths amongst the mutineers, whose demands remain unknown, and national television showed soldiers surrendering with their hands raised.
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo • The Ebola outbreak has surpassed 6,000 confirmed cases, with 2,911 deaths and 1,366 recoveries, making it the deadliest outbreak the country has ever seen. First reported in mid-May in Ituri, it has spread to six provinces in the north and east, where insecurity is hampering the response. There is no approved vaccine for the Bundibugyo virus, and a vaccine trial has begun in Kisangani.
